Probable Cause

An explosion occurred in a 90-ton-per-day incinerator at a municipal refuse incineration facility. Three workers were seriously burned by high-temperature gas that spouted from the inspection door, and one of them died 10 days later. The accident happened during inspection and repair of the furnace ash chute damper. The workers injected water to remove some blockage, and the water reacted with incinerated aluminum ash to form hydrogen, which caused the explosion.

Workers noticed that the post-combustion zone was full of ash and the ash pusher was not working properly, so they tried to remove the ash from the inspection door with a shovel. They discovered a solid layer of "clinker", which is formed by solidification of molten material such as aluminum. The explosion view more

A hydrogen explosion and fire occurred in the benzene unit of a styrene plant in a large petrochemical complex. The unit was being restarted following a scheduled maintenance shutdown. The explosion followed the release of about 30 kilograms of 700-psig hydrogen gas from a burst flange into a compressor shed. Two men were killed and two others were injured. If it had not been a holiday, the death toll and injuries would probably have been much worse.

The operators were bringing the plant online and increasing the hydrogen circulation pressure. About 10-15 seconds before the explosion, they heard a pop and then a loud hiss of pressure being released within the compressor shed. Witnesses reported seeing a white flash and then a large fireball. The fires burned out in 2-3 minutes, view more

A hydrogen explosion occurred in a university biochemistry laboratory. Four persons were taken to the hospital for injuries. Three of these were treated and released shortly thereafter; the fourth was kept overnight and released the following evening. All of the exterior windows in the laboratory were blown out and there was significant damage within the laboratory. One sprinkler was activated that controlled a fire associated with a compressed hydrogen gas cylinder.

First responders from the local community and the university campus were quickly on the scene. Once the injured were attended to and the site secured, response efforts focused first on assessing potential hazards (electrical, fire, hazardous materials, etc). Campus personnel worked into the night to board up windows view more

Lessons Learned Corner

H2 Tools is intended for public use. It was built, and is maintained, by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with funding from the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Fuel Cell Technologies Office.